Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You would like to reduce your working hours in order to study part time.

Write a letter to your boss. In your letter

• explain why you want to reduce your working hours
• say which hours you would like to work
• describe how your part-time studies would benefit your employer

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ....................................,

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Dear Mr.Sharma,

I am writing to request to reduce my job position from full time to part time.

One major reason why I want to reduce my working hours is to persue my further study.I opt a part time study in order to improve my skills ,where I have to go to college for atleast three days.Therefore,I would not be available to continue as a full time worker.

I would like to work on weekends only from friday to sunday regardless of any time restrictions.This would be benefical for me to manage my work and study both together.

During this summer,our store is normally busy during weekends.This could be good way for saving labour on weekdays and use more labour on weekends ,when more staff is required.

I hope you take my request into consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Sukhdeep Kaur.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points from the prompt: it explains the desire to reduce working hours to pursue further studies, specifies the desired working hours from Friday to Sunday, and describes the benefit to the employer by highlighting weekend store busyness and saving labor costs on weekdays. However, the response has a significant drawback regarding length. As noted in the length check, the student's response contains 139 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 150 words. This under-length impacts task achievement as the ideas are slightly constrained and cannot be fully extended. Consequently, the score is capped at Band 5.5 due to the word count penalty, despite touching upon all required prompt elements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The letter maintains a generally coherent overall arrangement with a traditional salutation and sign-off, and each body paragraph corresponds to a specific bullet point from the prompt. However, paragraphing is somewhat fragmented, with several very short paragraphs that disrupt the natural flow and progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are occasionally used, such as 'Therefore' and 'This would be', but they are sometimes repetitive or mechanically applied. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of fully developed transitions between sentences means the letter feels a bit disjointed. Overall, the organizational structure meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating key concepts related to work and study. There are several spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'persue' instead of 'pursue' and 'opt' instead of 'opted', as well as awkward phrasing like 'use more labour on weekends'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, and the reader easily understands the intended meaning. The student attempts less common lexical items such as 'consideration' and 'restriction', placing the vocabulary use firmly at a Band 6.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. There are several punctuation and spacing errors throughout the text, such as missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., 'skills ,where' and 'study.I opt'). Additionally, there are minor grammatical inaccuracies like 'request to reduce' and 'manage my work and study both together', which is slightly redundant. However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the majority of basic sentences are constructed accurately. This performance is characteristic of Band 6.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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